Storms end and then the clean-up begins. It won’t be an easy process, and it is sure to be extra painful for those who have lost items that cannot be replaced. It is hard to see businesses and homes devastated and it is difficult to understand how county, city, town and hamlet coffers will stand up under the great financial burden which will come to bear now that homes, farms, roads and bridges need to be replaced.
The provincial government has shown its concern by sending teams of experts from Emergency Management as well as several Ministers to the area to see the devastation for themselves and certainly the funds they decide to allot in aid will kick in as the rebuilding begins.
Still, the greater story may be more about human determination, hope in spite of loss and the ability to be grateful for all that is truly important like the safety of family members while all this is going on around us. The people that populate this area have a lot of courage, a lot of backbone. When they were needed they were out and about, helping neighbours save what could be saved while aiding others to get to safety.
Many people will remember this year and the flood. It has definitely been a season of surprises, with late spring snowstorms devastating ranchers and spring rain that never seemed to end causing overland flood damage and finally the flood itself, and the torrent of rain that came with it.
But it did end. People are rebuilding. They are strong and resilient. The sun is here and it seems the worst is behind us. The ground is finally beginning to dry and Canada Day is just around the corner.
So though it has been a trying year so far, it is now a time for celebrating all that makes this a special country, from living in an area where there is government help available when devastation strikes, to being in a place where neighbours still look our for one another, where we are free but are smart enough to also be socially conscious. There is truly no better country to live in all the world. We might have to worry about the occasional tantrum from Mother Nature, but we don’t have to be concerned about roadside bombs. We might have to pluck up the weeds growing along the back fence, but we don’t have to bow and scrape to some leader because they were born under a royal name and are therefor somehow better than us. We may have a heck of a clean up ahead of us, but we don’t have bombed out cities or citizens so poor they are starving in the street.
We are lucky. Even with all that has happened, we are very lucky.
So here’s to Canada Day. May it be sunny and may we all be safe, happy and with our loved ones.